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blindness

(Encyclopedia)blindness, partial or complete loss of sight. Blindness may be caused by injury, by lesions of the brain or optic nerve, by disease of the cornea or retina, by pathological changes originating in syst...

blood bank

(Encyclopedia)blood bank, site or mobile unit for collecting, processing, typing, and storing whole blood, blood plasma and other blood constituents. Most hospitals maintain their own blood reserves, and the Americ...

Fungi

(Encyclopedia)Fungi fŭnˈjī [key], kingdom of heterotrophic single-celled, multinucleated, or multicellular organisms, including yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. The organisms live as parasites, symbionts, or saprob...

streptococcus

(Encyclopedia)streptococcus strĕpˌtəkŏkˈəs [key], any of a group of gram-positive bacteria, genus Streptococcus, some of which cause disease. Streptococci are spherical and divide by fission, but they remain ...

Lind, James

(Encyclopedia)Lind, James, 1716–94, English naval surgeon. Considered the founder of naval hygiene in England, Lind observed on a ten-week cruise (1746) that 80 seamen of 350 came down with scurvy. In his Treatis...

Metchnikoff, Élie

(Encyclopedia)Metchnikoff, Élie ālēˈ mĕchˈnĭkôf [key], 1845–1916, Russian biologist. He studied in Russia and Germany, lectured at the Univ. of Odessa, and, after working with Pasteur in Paris, became (19...

Moniz, Egas

(Encyclopedia)Moniz, Egas ĕˈgəsh môˈnēsh [key], 1874–1955, Portuguese neurologist and diplomat. From 1903 he served in the Cortes several times and was Portuguese minister (1917) in Madrid and secretary for...

Sabin, Albert Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Sabin, Albert Bruce sāˈbĭn [key], 1906–93, American physician and microbiologist, b. Bialystock, Russia, grad. New York Univ. (B.S., 1928; M.D., 1931). He emigrated to the United States in 1921 a...

thrips

(Encyclopedia)thrips, minute, agile insects of the order Thysanoptera. Thrips have piercing-and-sucking mouthparts and cup-shaped feet from which bladderlike adhesive organs may be extended. Some species are wingle...

self-help group

(Encyclopedia)self-help group, nonprofessional organization formed by people with a common problem or situation, for the purpose of pooling resources, gathering information, and offering mutual support, services, o...